Japanese police have arrested Shinji Aoba, the prime suspect in a deadly arson attack on a popular animation studio in the city of Kyoto last year. 

Officers arrested Aoba at a Kyoto hospital where he confessed to the crimes. He was later transferred to the police headquarters for interrogation, according to Kyodo News, a local news agency.

The police had issued an arrest warrant for Aoba at the time of the incident, but had to wait for 10 months to make the arrest as he was recovering from severe burns.

Read more: Japan animation studio hit by deadly fire

Thirty-six people were killed and more than 30 injured when Aoba allegedly set fire to the three-story Kyoto Animation production studio in July 2019. The 42-year-old man had allegedly spread a gasoline-like liquid around the property and said "You die" before setting it alight.

Around 70 people were believed to have been in the building when the blaze started. The main casualties from the attack were young animation artists. Aoba said that he attacked the studio because it allegedly plagiarized his novel.

am/aw (AFP, Reuters)

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